


Cardcaptor Yuuri! Yuuri's Rival (?) and the Two Wands

by battle_goats



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 19:37:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15007913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/battle_goats/pseuds/battle_goats
Summary: As if balancing skating practice with magical hijinks wasn't enough, Yuuri now finds himself dealing with a possible rival in his figure skating idol.  What's an anxious teen to do?





	Cardcaptor Yuuri! Yuuri's Rival (?) and the Two Wands

Yuuri had absolutely no idea how he ended up in this situation.  Frantically skating around the Fukuoka ice rink dodging pillars of ice, staring in shock at the sight of everyone present having frozen over.  He was exhausted. He hadn't even performed yet and his legs were absolutely aching.

"Yuuri, you need to capture it!" Kero zipped by, as they dodged another spear that rose up from the rink.  Yuuri slammed into an ice wall and very nearly lost his grip on the staff.

"How!  I can't see it!" Yuuri said.  His heart hammered in his chest, the pounding so loud he could feel it in his ears.

"In order to capture the Freeze card, you have to get it to reveal itself," Kero said.  Yuuri managed to dodge another wall that had threatened to crush him. Yuuri skated for the only patch of clear ice left on the rink.  He knocked into the boards and turned to face the wave of ice chasing him down. Yuuri reached into the pocket of his track pants and pulled out the cards he'd caught so far.  He selected one, and tossed it into the air. He brought the head of his staff down onto the card to activate it.

"Firey!  Melt all the ice!" he commanded.  The card glowed bright white before it burned up to take the form of a fae creature wreathed in flame.  She swept over the rink, melting all but the ice Yuuri stood on. With all the ice gone, Freeze had no choice but to reveal itself.  The massive koi fish roared at Yuuri, it's red eyes gleaming with power. Yuuri raised the staff again.

"Return to the form you were meant to be in!  Clow card!"

Freeze roared one more time as it dissolved into wind that formed into the shape of a card.  Yuuri quickly caught it. He glanced at the card before he attention was drawn from it by Kero.

"Oh man, that one was a tough one," Kero said.  Yuuri sagged against the boards. He was wiped out.  The staff dissolved into it's standby key shape. Now that the card had been sealed, the rink had returned to it's natural state, and everyone who had been inside the arena was slowly regaining consciousness.  Footsteps approached and Kero dove into one of Yuuri's pockets to hide.

"Wow, that was amazing!"

Yuuri froze.  Someone had seen.  Someone knew. He slowly turned around to see Viktor Nikiforov standing behind him.  Yuuri's mind spun into overdrive to come up with an explanation, but he knew that Viktor wasn't stupid, and wouldn't buy whatever excuse he tried to come up with.

"There's no use lying, I caught the whole thing on video," Viktor told him.  He held up his cell phone. The screen was lit up of a shot of Yuuri holding the sealing staff and Clow card in hand.

"You - you weren't frozen over like everyone else?" Yuuri asked.  It was the first thing that had popped into his head in his shock.

"Of course not, it doesn't work on other magicals," Viktor said lightly.  Yuuri blinked at him, his glasses slipped down his nose a bit. He pushed them back up and stared some more.

This was not the day Yuuri had been expecting.  Here he was in Fukuoka for Worlds, skating in the junior division, when a Clow card chose to appear, and now it turns out that Viktor Nikiforov, the Russian King knew about magic too.  Yuuri sighed and slumped against the boards.

"So, how did someone whose family has no history of magic end up with the Clow cards?" Viktor asked.

"I found the book in the attic at home and opened it.  I asked my parents but neither of them have any knowledge of where it even came from."

Viktor only hummed at his answer.  He motioned for Yuuri to step off the ice and sit down before anyone really noticed anything amiss.  Yuuri managed to get his blade guards on and followed Viktor back to the locker room. As soon as Yuuri collapsed onto a bench, he really felt all of the exertion from earlier.

Viktor dug through his own duffel bag and handed him a protein bar and a bottle of water.  Yuuri gratefully took both and savored the chocolate on the bar.

"The junior division hasn't skated it, and you've already done all that.  I hope you skate well," he said. Yuuri made a noise in his throat while he drank from the water bottle.

"There's talk of moving me up to seniors next season if I place well here.  But after all that, I don't know if I will."

Viktor patted Yuuri on the shoulder and he felt a rush of warmth flood his body.  His sore muscles relaxed, and some of the weariness he was feeling evaporated.

"I believe that you'll do well.  In fact, I think you're going to medal!" Viktor said, his smile positively beaming.

"Me?  Medal?  I - I don't know about that," he said.

"Don't sell yourself short, Yuuri, you're an incredible skater.  Now get back to your coach before she comes looking for you."

Yuuri finished the protein bar and water and made his way through the arena to find Minako-sensei.

"Yuuri!  Where have you been?  Never mind that, you need to get warmed up.  There's just a few more skaters until you're on!" Minako said.  She ushered Yuuri off to the warm up area. It seemed no one had noticed the odd interruption to the competition because they were all carrying on as if no one had been frozen over, and the rink utterly destroyed.

Yuuri did end up getting gold that day, and he couldn't believe it.  Even if Viktor had helped him out with what must have been a little healing magic.  There was no way he would have been able to stay upright on the ice otherwise. He returned home to Hasetsu to some fanfare.  It wasn't often the town produced gold medalist skaters, after all.

Life carried on, for the rest of spring and summer, Yuuri trained to get ready for the senior division.  On top of that he had captured five more cards, but Kero kept giving the deck odd looks. After catching him doing it for probably the fifth time, Yuuri finally asked.

"You've been sealing the cards for nearly nine months and there's so many cards that you haven't come across.  In fact, I would say there's a good fifteen or so that I would have expected you to have captured by now. It's weird."

"Maybe they just haven't shown themselves," Yuuri said with a shrug.  Kero only hummed in response. Yuuri finished packing his backpack and headed for the front of the inn.

"Headed down to the ice castle, Yuuri?" his mother asked as she walked by with a tray of food.

"Yeah, I need to work on my jumps," Yuuri said.  He tied his shoes and headed out the door. At this time of day, the rink was sparsely populated, at best.  Even with the air conditioning and cool interior, it wasn't frequented during the sweltering summers. He stepped inside to see Nishigori manning the skate rental counter.

"Hey Yuuri, here for some practice?" he asked.

"Yeah, I need to clean up my jumps a bit."

"Lucky you there's only one other person here right now, so you'll have plenty of room," he said.  Yuuri nodded and quickly changed out of his shoes and into his skates.

He headed for the rink and stared when he stepped inside.  When Nishigori had said there was only one person skating, he'd assumed it'd be Yuuko or something.  She sometimes skated still, when she had time. Both she and Nishigori were dating now, and Yuuri wondered when the wedding was going to be.  They were in their final year of high school while Yuuri was in his second, so he figured they'd be tying the knot as soon as they could.

He most certainly didn't expect to see two time World Champion Viktor Nikiforov turning figure eights across the ice.

"Huh?"

"Oh!  Yuuri!  I was wondering when I was going to run into you," the man said.  His long silver hair was tied into a ponytail to keep it off his face, and his eyes sparkled with mirth.

"W-what are you going here?"

"I told Yakov I wanted a mini-vacation.  Your home town is listed on you JSF profile, and this is the only rink in town, so I figured I'd see you eventually."

"But why are you here?" Yuuri asked.  Viktor skated up to the boards and leaned against him.  Yuuri had been too tired to really admire the man's beauty up close back at World's, but Yuuri was certainly seeing it now.

"Because, I'm curious about you.  The inheritor of the Clow cards, some of the most powerful magicla artifacts in existence, and they chose you as their next master.  Especially when there's more than one candidate."

Viktor reached under the neckline of his shirt and pulled out a chain.  Dangling from that chain was the sealing key. Yuuri stared at it. He didn't understand.  Yuuri pulled his own key from his pocket. The two keys were similar. Both with the bird head design, but different.  Yuuri's was a dark blue to Viktor's teal. Where Yuuri's looked like it had been carved from a shard of ice, Viktor's looked more like it was a piece of a snowflake.

"How is this possible?" Yuuri asked.  Viktor smiled.

"It seems that Clow Reed saw fit to divide the power of the cards between two candidates.  At the Final Judgement, we both may pass or fail. It cannot be one or the other," Viktor said.

"How do you know all this?"

"I come from a long line of magicians.  Imagine my surprise, when one day I'm woken up by this key manifesting in my dreams, only to find it in my hands when I awaken.  And even greater surprise when the Clow cards themselves begin running wild in St. Petersburg. It wasn't until Worlds that I had my answer."

"When you say we both have to pass or fail the Final Judgement, what does that even mean?"

"It means that when Judgement happens, we are judged together, as two halves of one whole.  Not as individuals. We pass or fail together."

"Oh."

Viktor's serious demeanor melted away as he flashed his characteristic heart-shaped smile at Yuuri.

"But enough of that, you're obviously here to train.  Tell me, what were you going to work on, can I help?"

"Oh, uh, I was gonna work on my jumps today.  Since I don't have a skating coach, I haven't been able to try learning quads.  But I wanna be able to actually land all four triples before I try quads."

"Well, get to it then," Viktor said.  He stepped off the ice and ushered Yuuri onto it.

"What?"

"I want to see what you can do.  If we're going to be partners, I want to make sure you're up to the challenge."

Yuuri quickly stretched and stepped out onto the ice.  He spent a few minutes warming up while under Viktor's eagle-eye.  They spend the next few hours going over Yuuri's jumps. By the end, Yuuri felt like he'd been through the wringer, but he was consistently landing his triples.  He knew going into the senior division without at least knowing how to do quads could be a disaster, but given that quads were still a rarity, he thought he'd be fine.

* * *

Viktor was in two for two weeks, and somehow managed to fly under the radar the entire time.  No one knew he was there. His last social media post had mentioned taking a mini-vacation in Japan, where he would still train, but also be away from the rigors of his home rink.

In that time, only two Clow cards had made themselves known.  The Time card had trapped the town in an infinite loop of the same day, and it had taken the pair several loops to even notice anything amiss.  It had been located in the clock tower of the local high school. As the only large, publicly visible clock in all of Hasetsu, it was embarrassing to Yuuri that it took him so long to even figure out where the card was hiding.

The second card had been much easier to catch, the Sweet card had targeted all of the hot springs in town and made all the food inedibly sweet.  Yuuri had managed to catch it before it ruined an order of katsudon.

* * *

Viktor returned to Russia, and those two weeks had felt like an absolute dream to Yuuri.  Not only had he had the chance to skate with his idol, he'd gotten to really talk to him. Yuuri had star-struck and more than a little in love with Viktor since he was twelve.  But he was sixteen now and Viktor was twenty. The age difference was just too big at this point in their lives. Plus how could either of them even have time for dating when they had figure skating and magical cards to deal with.

They'd exchanged emails and any other contact information they could.  They knew that they'd reunite for the Final Judgement, whenever that happened.  But with Yuuri moving up to the senior division, he had a chance of seeing Viktor during the Grand Prix series.  So he could only hope they'd have the chance to see each other again.

Summer vacation ended and school started up again, and so did his training.  Minako-sensei had nearly died when Yuuri had walked into her ballet studio with Viktor one day, and she'd immediately put them both through their paces.

But now their focus was hammering down his routines for the season.  He hoped he was ready, but first he had to qualify and beat out all the other senior division skaters.  Which would have been much easier if another card hadn't made itself known in the middle of his short program.  The Earthy card had run amok outside the arena, and Yuuri managed to change into his shoes while everyone else evacuated.

Yuuri raced out, Kero hot on his heels.  A quick application of the Wood card, and Yuuri found himself in possession of all four elemental cards.  He and Viktor had compared what cards they had to what Kero could remember of the cards.

They knew there were two more core cards left to be revealed, and a handful of others to capture.  Kero had hummed over the small stack of cards that floated around Yuuri. The cards loved him, for all his anxiety and self-doubt.  But the fact that the power of the cards was divided between two people had been shocking to learn.

It didn't seem like something Clow Reed would do.  But the man had been dead for centuries, and it wasn't as if he'd be offering up an answer anytime soon.

* * *

Yuuri kept his head down as he let Minako lead him around the arena in Beijing.  He'd somehow finished with a bronze at his first Grand Prix event, but now he was in Beijing for the Cup of China, and Viktor was here too.  He'd spotted the other man during warm ups but hadn't had the chance to approach him. Coach Yakov had always intimidated Yuuri, and he wasn't about to try and get close and set the man's yelling off.

Yuuri was skating third, and he had been slowly edging himself closer to where Viktor was running through a step sequence.  He was nearly in earshot of the man when the entire stadium went dark. There were surprised gasps all around before there was complete silence.

"Yuuri?" Viktor voice called out from the dark.

"Viktor, where are you?" Yuuri took a step forward.  He shouldn't have been able to, he'd been facing a wall when the lights had gone out.  But it was as if he was standing in an endless void.

"It's time, Yuuri," Viktor said.

"For what?"

Yuuri jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"The final two cards have revealed themselves," Viktor said.  Yuuri reached into his pocket for his sealing key. The pair activated the sealing wands and held them tight.  They were the only lights in the darkness, and Viktor was all Yuuri could see.

"The final two?"

"Yes, The yin and yang.  The two from which each card is derived.  The Light and Dark," Vktor told him. The darkness around them fell heavier, and Viktor was now harder to see, as if a curtain fell between them, obscuring him from Yuuri's view.

"Wait, Viktor, I can hardly see you," Yuuri said. 

"This test is for you, Yuuri.  The book came to you, and you released the cards.  I'm here for you, but you must gain the favor of the cards," Viktor said.  The pressure was a weight upon Yuuri's chest and he just wanted to crouch on the ground and pretend it wasn't happening.

Yuuri stared at his hands, unsure of what to do.  Viktor had been swallowed up by the darkness. The light generated by his wand was snuffed out.  The darkness was too powerful for him to see through.

"How can I see my own hands when I can't even see Viktor anymore," he muttered. "The yin and yang."

He was familiar with the concept, and even Kero had explained to him that every card fell under the jurisdiction of either the sun and moon, and directly below those celestial bodies was the Light and Dark.  Which meant that the Light had to be active too. Darkness could not exist without Light to cast a shadow.

The Light coiled around him and expanded, and soon, two women nearly identical for one was robed in white, and the other deep black stood hand in hand before him.

"You have passed the final test set before you by the Cards.  Katsuki Yuuri and Viktor Nikiforov, two halves of one whole, together can master the Clow Cards.  But first, you must both pass the Final Judgement. We hope you are ready," the Light said. Yuuri didn't think he was particularly ready, but clearly they  had no choice in the matter.

Yuuri raised the sealing staff over his head and brought it down upon the two cards. "Return to the form you were meant to be in!"

The two faded away into their card forms, mirrors of each other.  He only had a moment to glance at them before he was scrambling to hide the cards and key.  Everything had returned to normal, Viktor was standing beside Yuuri, quietly slipping his own sealing key under his track jacket.

"You did it.  All of the cards have been sealed away," Viktor murmured into Yuuri's ear.  He tensed up from the proximity, but Viktor paid it no attention.

"So, the Final Judgement?" Yuuri asked.  Viktor hummed and pulled his phone from his pocket. 

"The full moon is tonight," Viktor said. "We only have a few hours until it happens.  But we can hardly withdraw from the competition to wait."

"So, we just carry on like everything is normal until then?"

"Yes.  I'm sure we can handle it."

* * *

Yuuri could not handle it.  He had already been a bundle of nerves.  He knew that if he scored high and even medaled here, he would qualify for the Final taking place in Tokyo in December.  But now the added pressure of more magical happenings had absolutely destroyed what little confidence he had.

He went on to skate and managed to flub several jumps.  There was no way he was qualifying now. He was seated firmly at the bottom of the pack and they hadn't even gotten to the free skate yet.

Yuuri used the weather app on his phone to track the waxing of the moon.  The true full moon was due to rise during the eleven o'clock hour. Luckily after all the events were done for the day, but there was no telling how things would unfold.

Yuuri lay in bed, back in the hotel room, waiting.  He'd told Minako he was getting an early night, and had climbed under the covers before she could say anything.  Once she'd turned out the lights and had fallen asleep, he'd eased out of bed and changed back into some comfortable clothing.

Just before eleven, he received a message from Viktor, asking him to meet him outside.  Yuuri managed to sneak out of the room without Minako stirring. In less than five minutes, he was shivering outside, trying to act casual so that no one wondered why he was out after dark with an older man.

"I have to say Yuuri, I thought I was too old to get into an adventure like this," Viktor said.  They had wandered into a nearby park. It was likely closed, but it was dark enough away from the streets that no one would see them. "This sort of thing always seemed it was more for someone still in middle school.  But, it brought me to you."

Yuuri could feel himself blushing.

"I've, um, I've looked up to you for a long time.  You're the reason I started skating competitively in the first place."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I saw you on TV at the Worlds finals in Sofia.  I was enraptured," Yuuri said. His face was hot, and he was dying and screaming on the inside.  He couldn't believe he'd said that.

"Wow.  You know, you're the first person to tell me that."

"That can't be true," Yuuri said. Viktor had dominated the men's senior division since he'd moved up to it.  Surely there were so many skaters out there who had told him he was their idol.

"Believe it or not, you're one of the few of my fellow competitors that I feel like I can talk to," VIktor said.  Yuuri stared at him in surprise. Considering that Yuuri felt like he could hardly talk to Viktor at all, this was a shocking revelation.  Yuuri was about to say something else when Viktor stood up. Yuuri followed his gaze to see Minako staring at them.

"Minako-sensei?"

She was staring at them, but her eyes looked like they weren't seeing anything at all.  Yuuri wanted to speak, but couldn't find his voice. A pair of long, white wings sprang from her back and enveloped her in a cocoon. 

"Yuuri!"

Kero swooped in, his wings expanding and he was also hidden behind them.  They pulled back a moment later to reveal an armored lion.

"Kero, what's happening?" Yuuri asked.

"Yue is awakening," Kero said.  He stood between the two and they watched as the wings that had enfolded around Minako began to recede to reveal an angel-like being.  Long silver white hair trailed down to the ground, and an elegant icy blue robe flowed around him.

"That's Yue?  Yue is Minako-sensei?"

"In order to hide from the candidate, Yue takes a human form in order to be near the candidate.  In this case, your ballet teacher," Kero explained. 

"Yuuri, we need to be ready," Viktor said.  They moved in unison to unseal their wands, and stood at the ready.

"What is this, Keroberos?  Why are there two of them?" Yue demanded.

"I don't know.  I only approved of one candidate, Katsuki Yuuri.  The second candidate came along, several months later.  He also has a sealing staff."

"We both share the responsibility of capturing the cards.  The cards have acknowledged us as both. We will face Judgement together," Viktor said.

"Then you shall fail, together," Yue responded.  Yue flew into the sky and Yuuri immediately moved to give chase.

"Fly!"

Fluffy white wings spread from the wings on the bird head at the top of his staff.  He straddled it and scooted forward.

"Come on, Viktor, I'll fly us up there," Yuuri reached his hand out.  Viktor nodded. He wrapped an arm around Yuuri and they rose into the air after Yue.  Yue was immediately on the offensive, ice crystals shot at them as Viktor raised his own staff.

"Shield!"

The expected the shield to stop the razor sharp crystals, only for them to pierce right through the shield  Yuuri barely managed to dodge in time. 

"Right, sun aligned cards only," Viktor said.  Yuuri nodded and reached for a card. He swooped down to the ground to drop Viktor off and activated the card.

"Firey!"

The fairy shot after Yue, chasing them over the night sky.  The card managed to singe Yue's robes and the tops of his hair, but did no other damage.  The Firey returned to him, and the pair were forced to duck behind some trees to avoid more of Yue’s razor ice crystals.

“Yuuri, I have an idea.  Hand me the other sun aligned element card,” Viktor said.  Yuuri blinked and handed over the Earthy without a thought.

“What’s your idea?” Yuuri asked.

“We use these two cards in tandem to capture Yue and pin them down,” Viktor responded.  Yuuri nodded and readied the Firey card. They stepped out in unison, and with a flourish of their wands, the two cards were activated.

Firey and Earthy slammed into Yue and melded themselves together into fast cooling lava that held him down.

“How is this possible?  Both cards belong to one, how could someone else have been able to use it.”

“We are two halves of one whole.  Neither of us hold dominion over the other.  We are equals,” Viktor stated. He stepped closer to Yuuri and their wands glowed.  They were yanked together as the light grew in intensity. Yuuri shut his eyes and turned away, the light had become so blinding.

The glow faded and when Yuuri was able to open his eyes, he gasped at the sight before them.  They both grasped a new staff between them. It towered over them, topped with a huge crystalline structure that resembled a shattering snowflake.  And when it shifted, tinkling bells sounded through the air. Yue’s face betrayed nothing at the sight, though both Yuuri and Viktor were quiet shocked.

“I see, if this is the will of my master, then it shall be.”

Firey and Earthy returned to their card forms and floated back to Yuuri.  He caught them reflexively. Yue got to their feet and impassibly stared at them.  Yuuri didn’t know what to make of them.

“Wow, Yuuri, isn’t this amazing!” Viktor said.  Yuuri looked up at him, he only smiled. He was feeling overwhelmed by everything.  He released his hold on the staff and it shattered into a flurry of snow. A weight settled in his hands and Yuuri glanced down.  It looked like the key form had been split in half. Viktor held the other half in his hand.

“So, what happens now?” Yuuri asked.  Viktor only shrugged. Kero approached them and nudged himself between the two.

“I never considered that there could be two masters of the cards.  How is this going to work when you two live in different countries?” Kero asked.  Yuuri and Viktor looked at each other. Clearly, this was something they needed to talk about.

Yuuri was about to speak, but he was interrupted by a yawn.

“All that can wait, yes?  It’s very late and we still have to skate tomorrow,” Viktor said with an easy smile.  Viktor placed a hand at the small of Yuuri’s back and lead him out of the park and back towards the hotel.  Kero reverted back to his smaller plush form and hid away in Yuuri’s jacket. Yue hung back before they switched forms.

Minako’s eyes open and she looked around in confusion.

“Eh?  What’s going on?  Why am I outside? Yuuri?”

“Ah, Minako-sensei, you were sleepwalking!  I came out here to get you,” Yuuri quickly said.  

“Sleepwalking?” She didn’t look like she believed him.

“Yes, it was quite a shock to see you walk down the hall,” Viktor chimed in.  Minako turned her attention to him and regarded him closely.

“Well, I’m awake now, let’s head back inside and get some more sleep.  You boys have a big day ahead of you.”

“I don’t think I’ll be medaling tomorrow, Minako-sensei,” Yuuri said.  Even though he knew that it was just his first season as a senior, it was still frustrating to do so poorly.

“Even so, you’re still gonna have to skate,” Minako said.  They strode through the lobby and into the elevators. Yuuri and Minako stepped off first.  Despite the lateness of the hour, Viktor gave Yuuri an enthusiastic wave. Yuuri slowly waved back.  

They winded their way down the hall, and as they approached their hotel room, Minako nudged Yuuri’s shoulder.

“So, Viktor Nikiforov, huh?”

“Huh?  What?” Yuuri stuttered. “It’s not like that!  He saw you in the lobby and helped me find you when you walked into the park.”

Minako only smiled at him as they stepped inside their room.  She flopped onto the bed and was out like a light. Yuuri sighed and crawled under the covers.  He set his glasses aside and as he was closing his eyes to sleep, his phone lit up with a message from Viktor.  He glanced at it.

Good night Yuuri!  I can’t wait to talk to you in the morning!

Yuuri tapped out a reply and shut his eyes to sleep.  He was absolutely exhausted.

* * *

The next morning, Viktor draped himself over Yuuri’s shoulders in line at the hotel’s breakfast bar.  Yuuri’s plate was loaded with fruit, some toast and a yogurt cup.

“Yuuri, do you want to discuss our shared custody?” he asked.  Yuuri sputtered at the phrasing.

“Viktor!”

“What?  We share a responsibility now.  Even our two wands are one now,” he said.  Yuuri sighed and wandered over to a table. Viktor followed him and smiled at him dazedly while he ate.

“Shouldn’t you be eating something?  You’re skating today too,”

“Oh, I usually have a light breakfast if it’s later in the day,” Viktor said.  Yuuri shrugged and but into his toast.

“I think, we should at the least keep all the cards together.  Maybe we could hold onto them for a bit and then trade?” Yuuri suggested.

“What about Keroberos and Yue?” Yuuri asked. “They’re our guardians too.”

“Well, Minako can hardly travel constantly, so perhaps Yue can stay with you.  Keroberos seems pretty attached to you. It’s easiest for them to just stay with you.  I’ll give you my half of the cards and we’ll go from there.”

“Well, that’s settled then.  Good luck today, Viktor,” Yuuri said.

“You too, Yuuri.” Viktor’s smile was infectious.

* * *

Hours later, Viktor stood on the podium with a gold medal around his neck.  Yuuri stood with the other competitors who hadn’t medaled. Somehow, he’d bumped up from the bottom to the top eight.  It seemed like a miracle, but honestly, after the last several months of miracles, it shouldn’t be entirely surprising.

He and Minako returned to the hotel to finish packing for the flight home, and he sighed.  He had enjoyed spending so much time with Viktor, but it was not to be. Maybe in the future, they’d be able to spend more time together.  One day.

That one day came much sooner than he anticipated.  Viktor showed up at the onsen two days after the season ended.  He was ecstatic to be there, and though Yuuri was much more reserved about it, he was too.


End file.
